Reflect individually on a piece of paper or discuss in pairs, according to the Gender Equality Index, the EU score has just improved by 4.2 points from 2005 to 2015 (Gender Equality Index, 2017). Why is there such small progress in 10 years? What should be done but has not been applied? How can we avoid having these same results next year?
Reflect individually on a piece of paper or discuss in pairs. We need to encourage young people to choose their subjects free from gender stereotypes. How can this be achieved?
Case study – Female migrants and child care: Juana arrived in Spain in 2005. Her children stayed behind with her husband in Bolivia, making them an international family. He followed a few months later but did not assume the role of primary caregiver. In Bolivia, masculine identity is closely linked to the role of income provider. Both Juana and her husband managed to secure work. She became a domestic worker – a typical role in the Spanish labour market for women. Her children lived first with their maternal grandparents, but Juana was not happy with this. She agreed with her sister-in-law that she would move home – a clear reorganisation of family strategies. When the couple achieved a certain level of job security, they wanted their children to join them in Spain while their children were still beneficiaries of family reunification procedures – an example of family strategies affected by migration policy. Their children were twice turned away at the airport. Only the eldest managed to enter Spain. As Juana required papers, she and her son moved to another city where she had acquired a work contract. This reflects how labour strategies are affected by migration policy. While she cared for an elderly woman at night, her son remained at home alone. This reflects the difficulties migrant women workers face in balancing work and family life. Juana feels that the situation is unsustainable.
Answer the question in groups, pairs or independently:
What kind of discrimination is this? Can you guess what happens next? What measures should be taken in order to avoid this situation?
Reflecting individually on a piece of paper, go to this website here and choose a good practice that you would like to see implemented in your country of residence, or one that you find inspirational, and write why.